Once You Admit Defeat
by EdeatheDemonFox
Summary: Axel travels to Halloweentown only to stumble upon a surprising revelation. If they supposedly don't have hearts, why can they feel? And more importantly, how far do their feelings go? AxelXOC One-shot.


Okay, so…this is a total random one-shot dedicated to non other than Aviditty! Now, I'm not as into Kingdom Hearts as she is and I'm not as knowledgeable so whatever I do know is from Demyx Time (Jenn and Kelly really are fabulous! I'm such a fangirl for them! Thanks again to Aviditty for showing me them! ^-^) but also from Chain of Memories, seeing as it's the only KH game I have. Oh and, der, I also learned quite a bit from Aviditty, seeing as she's a diehard KH fan. And also some AkuDemy fics I read gave info like that. So, this is an AxelXOC Fic. There I warned you. XP And finally, I don't know if I'm going to make this girl a character or not. That'll be up to Aviditty to decide, again she's the KH fan. I just like KH. She LOVES it. XP Just like I love her. She's an inspiration! Anywho, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, and if I did…I think Xemnas would have killed me by now. XP Onto the fic!

The nineteen-year-old girl wandered through the moonlit town, dark clouds looming all over the midnight sky. The girl was in a classic, horror-like costume as the town she was in was Halloween town. She had on a black, sleeveless corset but had on a white lace tank-top underneath that had a bow coming out from the sides of her corset and wrapping around her back. Her amethyst shorts were surrounded by a black, veiled skirt that spilt down the middle and flared down to her ankles, ending with jagged edges. Red and black horizontally striped tights wound down her legs, followed by black, knee-length combat boots. Winding around her arms were orange fingerless gloves that stopped a little after her elbows. Red ribbons were tied around the gloves and added even more color to her look. Finally, completing her look were big black ribbons holding her brown hair with blood red strips up in ponytails and black bat wings sown onto the back of her corset. Oh and also fake fangs fit snugly into her mouth, but that was really just for fun. It wasn't like she needed the fangs.

God only knows that you could never scare a heartless, especially not in a cheap way like that, but it was Halloween town after all and Jack had even told her how fitting the fangs looked on her.

"Hey, Zero!" The girl called, smiling happily as the little, luminescent ghost dog appeared by her side. "Hey, there buddy. Do you know if there have been any Darkballs here lately? Saix wants me to find out for some freaking reason. I don't even see the point, though. I mean, I know I'm a Nobody but I'm not a member of the Organization. At least willingly I'm not. But Xemnas has to force anyone he chooses to do his bidding."

The dog tilted his head at her, his long, transparent ears flopping lazily to the side. He nuzzled up against her, but she didn't feel it, obviously seeing as he was a ghost. But also…she had a feeling…that it was because technically she _couldn't_ feel. Zero finally nodded his head to her question and then barked happily before floating off to most likely find Jack.

Her lips, quirked in a smile as she resumed walking to find those annoying Darkballs and destroy them. But it wasn't long before a portal opened and a spiky redhead walked up beside her.

"Hey, you've been here awhile. Saix wanted me to come check on you, though I told him you don't need checking up on." He smirked and the girl gave a noise that was a mix between a sigh, a huff and an annoyed mewl. "Seriously, I'm not even one of you guys! But Mansex has to be such a douche!" The man known as Axel chuckled. "Well, Xemnas is the one in charge. Got it memorized?"

The girl glared darkly at him before baring her fake fangs at him with a hiss. "You don't scare me. Not even in your funky Halloween costume," he said. He fingered her bat wings and smirked. "Aw, so cute, batty!"

The girl's hand met with her face as her other hand brought her drumsticks, a.k.a. her weapons, out of her pocket that was deeply embedded into her flared skirt.

As a human, or more naturally put, a Somebody, the only thing she could remember was that she had loved to play the drums. She wasn't as talented with music as Demyx, the Melodious Nocturne was, but hey, she tried.

Although what really irked her was that even though she wasn't a member of the Organization (though Xemnas wanted her to be and she lived in the Castle anyways) Axel and Demyx had teamed up to give the girl her own nickname. Which was why Xemnas now referred to her as The Fluttering Heartbeat.

It was probably because not too long after she had first come here she had randomly told Axel that the drums were the heartbeat of all music. Axel had just scoffed but Demyx had agreed with her. Ah…numbers eight and nine…the only ones she cared for and that cared for her in return. Even though she would never admit out loud to caring about Axel. Just as he would never admit that he cared for her.

Although in a way, he had kind of revealed his feelings to her. By naming her. She had blushed furiously and shrugged nonchalantly after he had told her his name for her, trying to act as if she didn't care, but she was touched. To the deepest part of her core…however deep that was for a Nobody anyway…

Lost in her thoughts, she failed to realize that the two of them were being followed until Axel put an arm in front of her and she walked into it. She gave a quiet "Oomph", only to have Axel quickly and quietly shush her. Soon she knew what was following them and she squealed in delight. She hopped hyperly, much like a rabbit on Red Bull towards a group of Shadows that were huddled behind the two Nobodies.

Axel snorted in disbelief and with a sigh, allowed his head to fall into one of his black, leather-clad hands. "They were ganging up on us and you just want to cuddle with them." It wasn't a question but a statement only because said girl did this numerous times. Her favorite Heartless were the Shadows, Blue Rhapsodies, and the Bouncy Wilds. Oh and the Sniper Wilds. (Found out about them when I was looking up cute pics of Bouncywild. ^^) Come to think of it, she even liked the Power Wilds. Axel never knew what she saw that was so cute in creatures that Nobodies were taught not only by instinct, but by Xemnas to destroy.

Then again, she _never_ listened to Xemnas. The only reason she had her own room Castle Oblivion was because Demyx had conned her into it. Or moreover, he had used the puppy-dog eyes, which she herself was also quite good at.

It was odd, really. Axel usually never got close to anyone. Demyx was practically the only friend he had in the Organization. Well, him and Roxas to be honest. Everyone else he just didn't like, or they didn't like him, or both. But…_she_ was different. On the outside…everyone knew that she didn't believe what Xemnas told her about us not having hearts. But on the inside…Axel didn't know what she thought.

This girl was so unpredictable but at the same time, The Flurry of Dancing Flames felt like he knew her better than anyone else.

"Kya, kya, kya!" She squealed, practically crushing one of the poor Shadows in a very tight, _very_ uncomfortable looking hug. It growled at her and Axel quickly summoned his chakrams before throwing one at the other Shadows. They quickly vanished after the blade of the chakram pierced them but that still left the one in his friend's arms.

He was about to throw the other one, his eyes narrowed as he figured out a way to hit the Shadow without hitting her. She would never let the Heartless go willingly so he would have to make her.

"Don't you dare hurt him, Axel!" She was blinking owlishly, with chibi tears falling down her cheeks. He sighed, about to throw his weapon anyway until she said, "What do you think about naming him Chester?"

Axel blinked unbelievingly at her before pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He liked the girl but seriously…adopting a Heartless, even Demyx would think that was a stupid idea.

"Okay, I know you like those people that cosplay as myself and Demyx on the internet, but really? Keeping a heartless…even Dem would disagree with you."

"Fine! Let's take him back to the Castle and find out." She childishly stuck out her tongue at the pyromaniac and he just rolled his eyes and sighed. Like he had said…she would never let go of something she saw that she deemed cute willingly.

"Sorry, Heartbeat...you can't keep him," Axel said, quite gently for him, as the Heartless continued to growl and scratch at its captor. He released the chakram and the last remaining Shadow flew from her arms and hit the ground with a thump before disappearing.

Her pigtails slumped slightly, almost as if they were animal ears, and she paused before standing up and huffing in the way that only she could. "You always have to ruin my fun, Ax! Seriously!" She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly and turned around, beginning to walk the direction she and the pyro had been heading.

Axel followed after her, making sure to stay a few paces behind her until she blew off all her steam. Sometimes he wondered why she hadn't been gifted with fire like he had. She sure had one hell of a temper and was stubborn to boot!

She finally sighed and turned around, stopping the Knuckles the Echidna look-alike in his tracks. She slapped him lightly with one of her drumsticks and then turned back around and resumed walking, a haughty look of satisfaction on her face. "That's my punishment? Really?" Axel, unable to help himself, began to laugh. "Whenever you make me angry, I get even. Commit it to memory!" She smirked, once again her happy, perky self. But she soon stopped again, her head turning to the side so fast her puppy dog-like pigtails flapped to the side. Her hair, even in pigtails, were all the way down to the start of her legs. But if you had ever seen her in a fight where her hair had either been kept down or had gotten free from her bows or hair ties like the Flurry had, you would know why she struggled so hard to keep it up. It looked damn annoying. Although the Flurry had to admit that she did look rally pretty with her hair down…

Axel shook his head at that. He didn't feel that way about her. And everyone in the Castle knew that she was trying to hook him up with Demyx. He smiled ruefully. This girl and her ideas.

She gripped her drumsticks more tightly in her hands as her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Suddenly, she held them up and, much like as if she were playing the drums, she began to hit them on the thin air around here, making a pulsing beat come to life. She then waved one of the drumsticks to send the beat, shown by color, zooming toward something hidden behind one of the many graves that decorated Halloween town.

A Darkball's shriek filled the air as it was destroyed. The girl haughtily smirked and skipped forward a few more steps.

"You do know that Saix didn't tell you to destroy them, right?" Axel asked, eyebrows raised. She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side much like Kierra in Lion King II. "You do know that I don't listen to people like him, right?"

"Then why are you even in Halloween town?" Axel asked, smirking. She startled, chewing on her bottom lip. "Because I wanted to see Zero." Axel chuckled. "Then why are you bothering to look for the Darkballs?" The girl stumbled and began to twirl one of her pigtails in her fingers, the red strands sticking out against her black nails.

"Because I _want_ to. I'm looking for the Darkballs because they're…cute." Axel shook his head. "No. They're not. And I know you don't like them. You always go on about how ugly they are."

"Okay, yes they're ugly, but I am here because I want to find them. I don't know why, but I do." Axel frowned. Normally she didn't give in this easily. It was one of the things that he had the most fun with; bantering back and forth with her.

And that in itself was more fun that when he and Dem played pranks on Marluxia. And that was saying something.

"Why'd you suddenly give up?" Axel stepped closer to the girl and she just tilted her head away from him again. "Give up what?" Axel narrowed his eyes at her much more stubborn than usual aura.

He summoned his chakrams and without a word to her threw one toward her. She barely managed to dodge it and quickly turned a glare on the redhead. "What was that for flamomaniac?"

"For not telling me why you're here. I know there's a reason, but I just don't know what that reason is. So how bout this…we have a battle and if I win you tell me your reason. Got it memorized?"

She huffed, seriously pissed off. "What do I get if I win then?" Axel let down his guard for a moment to think. He knew he wouldn't lose to her, or moreover he _couldn't_ lose to her so… "Alright, alright, if you win, I'll kiss Demyx."

The brunette, although extremely angry as it was, chuckled, now amused as well. "Fine then, let's get this over with." She waved her hand lazily and then began to tap the air like she had before, but this time the beat was faster, the rhythm more complex. Which would mean for a stronger attack.

Axel quickly threw both of his chakrams at her to distract her from finishing but she had already waved the beat towards him. She quickly went up into a back flip, dodging one of the chakrams and then to avoid the other, spun into a cartwheel. But she had slightly miscalculated and with Axel as your opponent…miscalculating was very bad. So the second chakram sliced the edge of her leg and tore her tights.

Axel on the other hand, had agilely avoided her first attack and kept his face neutral as the girl he was fighting landed on her right foot and left knee in a crouch like position. She glared up at him and snarled quietly. She didn't mind losing, she really didn't care either way, but battling Axel…if she did lose she really wasn't looking forward to telling him why she had actually come here.

This morning when the thought of going to Halloween town had entered her mind and after being recruited by Saix for a mission (which was kind of pointless considering as she was not a member of the Organization) she had thought nothing of it. Halloween town was after all her favorite town. She loved the spookiness of it and of course she was good friends with Jack and loved to visit Zero.

But as soon as Axel had teleported here, the realization had begun to dawn on her, and with a sinking feeling in her heart that she didn't even have, she came to the conclusion that…she was indeed in love with Axel. Because, deep down…she really did believe that they had hearts. That they could each feel. Because they all showed emotions. And emotions come from your heart. How else could Larxene be so savage and sadistic? How else could Demyx be so carefree and humorous? How could Marluxia be so…gay?

And most of all…how could Axel be so arrogant and sarcastic…and caring and…a good friend? How could they not have hearts if they could be like that? If they could be themselves?

So with those thoughts swirling in her mind, she began to dish out another beat, this one a combination between slow and fast and instead of sending is straight towards Axel, she spun her drumstick in a circular motion to have it swirl around Axel and capture him instead.

And this time her hit landed. But for some reason Axel didn't seem to take much damage. And that had been a very complex beat. Axel's chakrams quickly made their mark on her again and she struggled to her feet, wincing as the asphalt dug into her tender skin.

But she wouldn't give up. Just because Axel was stronger than her didn't mean that she would just concede defeat. Axel smirked slightly, trying to tempt her into attacking again. He didn't necessarily like to hurt her but this was a battle so what choice did he have? Especially if he wanted to find out the truth.

So he vaulted into the air and in mid-back flip he threw one chakram and then as he became right side-up again, as he was still in the air, he threw the other chakram, making sure the flames surrounding them were twice as hot as normal. He knew that she wasn't necessarily fond of things that were that hot and so he had to use her weakness against her.

She quickly managed to dodge one but the other was just too fast for her to make enough movement to maneuver around it. Her back hit one of the very many graves surrounding them as the force from the attack had thrown her back harder than she was used to.

She stood back up, using the grave for leverage and sent another beat Axel's way. Maybe if she tried a sneaky attack kind of like the Bouncy Wilds did, then maybe, just maybe she could win this battle and keep her secret concealed.

She started to drum the air unnaturally slow, her slowest beat yet, and Axel paused, too confused by her slow demeanor to continue his attack. She swayed side to side as she drew out her attack, moving towards the pyro all the while. And once she was close enough, she pointed her left arm at him to send the attack flying the short distance toward him.

It sent him sprawling onto the ground but he didn't get up so she stalked toward him and narrowed her eyes as she came face to face with him and he still didn't get up. His eyes blinked open, the bright, pine green color making her flush and swallow nervously.

"Why won't you just tell me?" He asked quietly. It had been so quiet that it not only fit the eeriness of the town, but she had barely even heard it.

"Why do you want to know?" She managed to croak out, pocketing her drumsticks with a sigh. She was admitting defeat and while she wasn't a sore loser she didn't like to give up on a fight.

He sighed and leaned up slightly, surprised when she kneeled next to him when he had thought she would just run to get out of telling him.

"I want to know because you don't give in easily. And today…no…lately you've been giving in to a lot of things. So why are you here? Why did you actually obey Saix when you normally would've flipped him off and gone to Atlantica instead with Demyx?"

She gave him a slightly curious look; the most at ease he had seen her in awhile. "Why do you think I'd pick Atlantica, Ax?" He put a gloved hand on her knee. "Because your form for that world is part otter."

She blushed slightly, knowing that he was right, but shook her head, getting back to the conversation at hand. "Look…I came here because…" She sighed and slowly stood up, looking longingly at the redhead as his hand dropped back to the ground beside him.

"Because I…I knew you'd most likely open a portal and come after me and that's what I wanted. I…wanted you to come and find me."

With yet another sigh, this time quieter, she reached up and undid her pigtails, letting her hall fall down all the way to her knees and not even reaching for her favorite ribbons as they fluttered through the air around her.

At hearing those words, Axel heaved himself up and came to stand behind her, her back facing him. He wanted to see her face as she spoke but didn't dare turn her around, afraid she would blow up, run off, or both.

She ran a hand through her disheveled hair. "But like you, I'm a Nobody and…" She paused. "We're not supposed to have feelings," she finished in unison with Axel. She turned back to face him, a wistful expression painted across her slender, slightly tan face.

"You want to know what's inside my non-existent heart, Axel? The _so-called_ feelings I harbor within? I do believe deep down that what Xemnas says is a load of bull shit…but at the same time, there's a part of me, I don't know if it's the ghost of my Somebody haunting me…but I also feel like we really don't have anything. Or that our hearts are just paper or something. Like…like in that Owl City song. _Cause I believe, you don't fold your paper heart and wear it on your sleeve._"

The girl shrugged, only slightly embarrassed at singing in front of the Flurry. "Sorry, I'm probably not making sense. All I know is that…you invade my mind even when you're not around me. You invade my dreams. Damn it, you've freaking invaded my heart or whatever it is that we fucking have! You've invaded every part of me, and I don't even think my Somebody's ever had feelings this strong."

"So what? You're actually saying you believe what Xemnas is saying? Or a part of you is believing him? That whole thing about _Kingdom Hearts…_I know you don't believe that. I know you don't. If you are trying to tell me that a part of you believes Xemnas, then you are lying to me," Axel snarled, roughly grabbing the girl's arms and holding onto them so fiercely that one wrong move could end up with him breaking one or both of her arms.

She looked up at him, daring him to fight her again and at this point Axel was so infuriated that he was contemplating exactly that. She sighed and blinked rapidly a few times before parting her lips. "So then…do you believe we have hearts?"

Axel blinked, taken aback by the question. He had been so busy getting angry at her because he knew that wasn't what she really thought but when it came down to his revelation…was that what he really thought as well?

At that moment something fluttered inside of him, almost like an imaginary heartbeat. His eyes widened as he continued to stare down the girl opposite him. She looked at him questioningly. He finally looked down, his green eyes not comprehending what this new feeling was. Yeah, technically they weren't supposed to feel, but they did. So…

"Okay, so if we're done here…" The melodic voice of the Heartbeat broke him out of his agonized thoughts and he finally looked back up to see her standing up, ready to walk away. He couldn't have that.

"No!" He grasped her arm tightly, only meaning to pause her in her escape, but he must've gripped a bit too hard because she ended up falling back and into his lap. A blush quickly lit up her cheeks and she tried to pull away but only to no avail.

Axel wasn't sure why it mattered to him whether or not she left, but suddenly it did matter to him. When she tried to scurry off his lap, he gripped her small body to him even more tightly. He was also feeling suddenly…possessive as well.

She looked up at him in surprise and once he took in her parted lips, her wide gray-blue eyes, and the faint but prominent blush on her cheeks, he knew that they really did in fact have hearts because of the feeling welling up inside of him now.

And with that thought it mind, he pressed his lips to hers. At first she struggled away from him, but he growled, deep in his throat, his hand on the small of her back, and that kept her from straying away. For awhile, there was no reciprocation but the redhead persevered and soon enough her lips began to move in rhythm with his. As was expected from a musical being. But that didn't make this moment any less special.

When he pulled away, his breathing was rough and loud and she seemed dazed, almost as if she were dreaming with her eyes open. Her gray eyes were bright and glazed over and finally she remembered to breathe.

Axel's gloved hands released her extremely pale ones, only from him gripping them too tightly, and waited for her to smack him, jump up and get the frick away from him. But she did no such thing. She sat on his lap, panting for a few good moments before choosing to wrap her arms around him.

"What…the hell was that, Ax? A new attack combo?" He chuckled quietly. "Why, did you like it?" He smirked. She stared off into space again for a minute, obviously still dazed, and then shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Well, I guess you could say that you definitely won our battle with that one."

"So…you felt that, correct?" Axel asked her, only slightly smirking now. "Yeah, I definitely _felt_ that. I also…liked it." Her blush became more prominent and she titled her head at him, before sighing.

"Okay, okay, fine, yes, I admit it, to feel that, we'd have to have hearts. There, happy?"

Axel's smirk once again grew big. "I knew I'd get you to admit defeat," he said, once again regaining his happy, teasing attitude. She rolled her eyes. "Egotistical," she muttered, standing up from his lap. And this time he let her, although it was reluctantly.

She had started walking again but quickly stopped and turned back to the redhead with a thoughtful expression. "And for the record, the Darkballs _are_ cute, but not that cute, and they're super annoying, what with they're weaving and random biting…"

Axel chuckled once more then eyed up her frazzled appearance from none other than their fight. Noticing his gaze, the girl made a "hmph!" sound and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can take care of it myself Axel!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes, now smiling fondly at the girl he had come to, yes, _love_. Or as she would say, even after all that happened today: "As much as somebody without a heart can love." Even though he knew and had known all along that she believed they had hearts. She was just constantly changing, like a chameleon, but he knew that was only because she didn't want to seem weak or desperate. She tried to tell people she believed things when she didn't and vice versa.

"But one thing about you that won't change is that you have my heart," Axel murmured, more to himself. But she had still heard him. "Geez, Axel, yeah, we've established the fact that we do have hearts of some kind, but no need to freaking overdo it."

The Flurry just grinned and shook his head.

Okay, so I don't know if _Fin_ would be appropriate here or not. XP Okay, few more things I should go over. First, I only made her a Nobody cause I didn't know why someone else besides the Organization would be in Castle Oblivion other than Sora obviously. Although I have to admit, having a technically non-existent heart is a fun thing to play around with. XP Again, it's up to Aviditty to decide if this girl is worth anything. XD Kays, I also made her have music as her weapon much like Demyx, but in truth as soon as I thought of drumsticks, it stuck like glue because Aviditty's an avid drummer and even though she thinks she isn't any good, I think she's terrific. So um….hope you all enjoyed and props to Axel cause not only is he hot (XP) but he's just plain awesome! 


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